On the shirt tails of a hefty winter snow storm, I recently traveled to Manhattan, Kansas to present a Keynote at a regional workshop for the National Association of Interpretators (think professionals who work in education and interpretation in zoos, museums, nature centers, national and state parks...). Our like-minded missions, to connect people emotionally and intellectually to the resources we write, teach or talk about, made my experience at the conference rich and inspired. It was a delight to meet a group from a completely different discipline I had so much in common with. Old vocational identifications, ancient and archaeological, came to the surface and played along side with my newer author-illustrator self.
One fellow presenter talked about the challenge of communicating the concept of time to children. We're not talking "This happened last Tuesday" kind of stuff. We're talking "This happened 11,000 years ago"! She had come up with an inventive portable visual and tactile stratigraphy display, presenting objects from the various time components of her state park, where she interprets. It got me thinking about our own lives stratigraphically, how one layer of experiences builds on the next. It is rich and complex alright, not just one story, but many. And I do still have fun digging around occasionally!
3 comments:
I've seen that layered time capsule at Old Fort Garlands museum in SW Colorado and my kid's were fascinated with it. Love your depiction as usual!
All those layers--- Your intelligence, thoughtfulness, and heart--- all show in your beautiful artwork. So glad that you got to share it with others!
Thanks you guys. I am lucky to have layers of good friends and colleagues like you over time and space!
Post a Comment